Mr. Henderson now has the assistance of a lawyer.

Man who was charged after recording deputies has free lawyer

A private attorney working with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota has agreed to represent a Little Canada man whose video camera was taken from him by a sheriff’s deputy.

I’d expect a quick dismissal of charges and an offer to settle the inevitable civil suit.

As the saying goes, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes”.

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ORIGINAL STORY

Just channeling Inigo Montoya here for a minute. I was originally going to title this post, “Not clear on the concept”, but I like this title better.

Here is what I am talking about.

Little Canada man videotaped sheriff’s deputies, and got charged for it

Andrew Henderson watched as Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies frisked a bloody-faced man outside his Little Canada apartment building. Paramedics then loaded the man, a stranger to Henderson, into an ambulance.

Henderson, 28, took out his small handheld video camera and began recording. It’s something he does regularly with law enforcement.

But what happened next was different. The deputy, Jacqueline Muellner, approached him and snatched the camera from his hand, Henderson said.

“We’ll just take this for evidence,” Muellner said. Their voices were recorded on Henderson’s cellphone as they spoke, and Henderson provided a copy of the audio file to the Pioneer Press. “If I end up on YouTube, I’m gonna be upset.”

I know that many police and even some EMS and fire personnel don’t like to be filmed or photographed while at work. Personally, it’s never bothered me because I don’t make a habit of doing stuff I don’t want to be photographed or filmed. Which is pretty much how you have to work in the 21st century with every camera having a phone attached to it. Or is it the other way around? No matter, you get the point.

Depute Mueller not only made a questionable move in confiscating (some would say stealing) Henderson’s phone, but because she’s a police officer her comment about being upset could be construed as a threat.

In an incident with so much stupidity attached to it, it’s hard to pick out one act as the most stupid. Still, I think this is in fact the most moronic act of all in this farce.

The deputy wrote on the citation, “While handling a medical/check the welfare (call), (Henderson) was filming it. Data privacy HIPAA violation. Refused to identify self. Had to stop dealing with sit(uation) to deal w/Henderson.”

Yes, she’s quoting HIPAA, or rather misquoting HIPAA as part of his illegal activities. At least she spelled it correctly, which is more than many people who DO fall under HIPAA can manage. Unfortunately for the deputy, Henderson is NOT a covered entity or person under HIPAA as he’s not a medical practitioner, does not work for one, and has access to privileged medical information on the patient. Whom he didn’t even know.

My expectation is that the charges against Henderson will be dropped, as they should. In fact they already should have been. I think at this point the county is going to try to coerced Henderson into agreeing not to sue their pants off in exchanged for them not pressing the charges. If he’s smart, he won’t do that. Sadly here is some evidence that he might not be,

Henderson works as a welder and does not qualify for a public defender. He is representing himself in court.

The legal term for that is “pro se”, which loosely translated means “Fool is going to represent himself in court.” It rarely ends well for the lawyer/client. My fervent hope is that some lawyer in the Ramsey County area reads this article and offers to represent Henderson in exchange for the right to represent him in the inevitable civil suit.

Public employees have got to learn that the public has a right to observe and film us doing our jobs. Several police officers have already learned this because they were sued in federal court and lost. Apparently several more are going to have to be sued and lose before this crpp stops.

And some of my friends would be in nearby cells.

Cedar Creek student had chemicals at home that could be used for bomb, police charge

Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District Superintendent, Steve Ciccariello, said that his teacher saw hand-drawn pictures of what appeared to be weapons in his notebook.

What was this Weapon of Mass Destruction this budding felon drew? What was the awesome slaying machine he was no doubt designing when he was supposed to be learning to conjugate verbs?

Why it was a glove. With flames coming out of it. I shite you not.

Back when I was in Junior High School and even High School, I drew stuff that would have had the dainty teacher soiling her armor, uh underwear.

P-38 Lightnings, P-51 Mustangs, various machine guns, and PT boats. Lot’s of PT boats, because I liked them. PT boats launching torpedoes and with guns ablazing. Take that you Sons of Nippon! Tanks too, all the better to crush the Nazi menace. Just about every boy my age did that, some more than others. Amazingly, nothing ever happened and none of us ever got arrested. Back then people in the public schools had some common sense and boys were allowed to be boys.

Investigators from the department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office went to the 16-year-old boy’s residence on East Spencer Lane and found several items, including electronic parts and several types of chemicals that when mixed together could cause an explosion, police said. The student was charged with possession of a weapon, an explosive device, and was placed in Harborfields Detention Center, police said.

You know, stuff a kid at a tech centric school might have at home.

Moran said the family and the student cooperated with the department during the investigation.

Their first, but understandable, mistake was thinking that they were dealing with rational adults. I can see their thinking, but next time they’ll know that if the police want to have a chat with you to help “clear something up”, then there are two things you should immediately do,

1) Shut up. Really, never volunteer information, because that friendly chat can become a not so friendly interrogation in a heart beat.
2) Lawyer up. A few grand spent up front will save you a lot of grief and even more money down the road.

Oh, and if the police ask if they can “have a look around”, the only correct answer is “Absolutely, once you come back with a “Warrant issued upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” See Mapp v Ohio for further details.

This sounds serious, doesn’t it? I mean this kid could be plotting to blow up the school. Why would a kid of this age have electronic parts and several types of chemicals in his house if not to make a bomb?

This might provide some insight,

Cedar Creek opened in September 2010 as a magnet school with programs focusing on engineering and environmental sciences and specializing in hands-on learning.

Oh, that. Obviously a kid going to a tech centric school should not under any circumstances be curious or want to learn outside of the structured confines of approved public school buildings. Why, he might discover something on his own! We can’t have that.

So, let’s recap here. Teacher sees kid’s drawing of glove with flames coming out of it. Teacher wets herself and then runs to Principal. Principal poops his panties and calls the police. Police come and talk to the kid, who answers truthfully. The police then arrest the kid and he ends up in the county youth detention facility. Where he will no doubt get an education of the type his parents don’t want him to have.

Police Chief Pat Moran stressed Tuesday night no threats were made by the student and there was no indication there was any danger posed to anyone or property at the school.

“There was no indication he was making a bomb, or using a bomb or detonating a bomb,” he said.

So, what the fuck was he arrested for, Chief? Oh, they trumped up a charge of possessing an explosive device and arrested him. Nice work there Inspector Clouseau. Barney Fife would be so proud of you. We used to laugh at ole Barn, but now he seems to be a role model for many detectives.

The Chief should correct the spelling of his last name by replacing the “a” with the correct “o”. Truth in advertising, you know. Cheap shot? Yeah, but mostly those are the best kind.

Read the last few paragraphs to see examples of other public official idiocy in New Jersey public schools.

I’m not big on lawsuits, but I hope that the family gets the most vicious attorney they can find and sues the shit out of the school, the town, and the individuals involved in this farce. I’m serious. if the people who are responsible for this travesty are held personally financially responsible, others in public office will think twice before arresting high school kids for, well for nothing.

I’m sure the “What if…” chorus will be chiming in with the horrible prospect of this kid actually doing something. There is always a threat of that, but it seems for the most part these people exhibit signs well before they act that they are not quite right in the head. This young man did none of that and the police even admit that there was no threat. So, the arrest was mere ass covering on their part.

We have a choice to make in this country. We can retain our civil rights and run the risk that there will be occasional danger. Or we can cede our hard won rights and liberties to an increasingly voracious security apparatus that will provide us with neither liberty nor safety and subject us to abuses such as this ever more frequently.

The decision is ours, at least for now.